Finding Time to Exercise as a Backstage Theatre Professional

Did you know, exercise is just as effective as antidepressants?

Research has shown that exercise has the same effect of antidepressants as treating symptoms of depression.

I personally feel 100% better after exercising (even on days I would rather stay in bed for an extra hour!) whether it’s going to the gym or going for a long walk. Of course, I’m a little biased in saying how great exercise is, so while I was writing this article I asked my clients if they had noticed a difference in their mental health since joining TheatreFit, here are their responses:

“100% positive. I don’t just go to the gym now for my gains etc, I do it because it’s a therapy and my brain feels so refreshed after”

“Definitely agree, going to the gym has been a great way of dealing with the daily stresses of work”

“100% positive. It’s definitely a form of therapy for me too!”

“I definitely notice it when I don’t go if I’ve had a temporary setback. It’s why I enjoy hitting the gym in the morning as it sets me up for a better day. Also that hour I spend on the gym floor is me time – earphones in, music on and everything else left at the door”

The last statement is from a London Based Assistant Stage Manager and I think the last part is really key:

“…that hour I spend on the gym floor is me time – earphones in, music on and everything else left at the door”

Every single Stage Manager I speak to struggles with taking time for themselves and not feeling guilty for it. A Stage Manager is excellent at their job because they’re putting others & the production first before themselves – which makes the production run very smoothly, but it also means they’re sacrificing a bit of themselves, which is often their health.

If their hour ‘me time’ is exercising in the gym a few times a week, that’s a HUGE win for Stage Managers.

Exercise not only improves mental health for backstage theatre professionals and provides ‘me time’ for selfless Stage Managers, there are also the physical benefits.

There’s a variety of different exercises, my speciality is in resistance training so I advocate for that over other forms of exercise. You could call me biased (which I am) but scientifically, resistance training is the best form of exercise:

– Improves bone density so there’s less chance of breaking bones.
– Reduced risk of injury in both the gym & outside.
– It can fix injuries (massages & physio cover up the symptoms, weight training heals it)
– The only way to get stronger.
– It increases your stamina so you don’t need to do cardio if you don’t want to.
– Change your body composition so you feel confident.
– Helps manage body weight so you don’t encounter the side effects of being overweight.
– Improves cognition so you can focus better on work.
– It’s safer than other forms of exercise provided it’s executed correctly.
– Feel like a superhero because you can lift heavy weight (there’s nothing more empowering than being able to lift heavy weight)

As you can see, there’s benefits to your mental health and physical health with exercise, particularly with weight training.

You’re probably thinking “Claudia, this all sounds great but I don’t have time to go to the gym. And even if I do, it never lasts!”

I hear you – because you sound exactly like my clients before they started working with TheatreFit.

There’s a misconception that you need to spend hours & hours each week training really hard or there’s no point to it, which is fuelled by us scrolling through social media and seeing other people / fitness influencers spending hours in the gym. It leaves us thinking “I don’t have the time (or willpower) to do what they’re doing, so there’s no point in trying.”

That’s true – you don’t have the same time or flexibility that they do. But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost.

All of my clients are busy backstage theatre professionals. Either in the West End working 8 shows a week / 6 days a week (sometimes along with cast change rehearsals.) Or they’re touring and are in a new city every single week.

Despite their long working hours, we still manage to get them stronger & sticking to a training routine that they enjoy. We do this exactly the same way a Stage Manager would manage rehearsals – we look at their schedule and highlight the times during the week they can fit a workout in.

The next step is then catering a programme to their schedule – this could be a 3x day a week programme in the gym (the most common for my West End clients) or a 3x a week 20 minute banded workout for my touring clients.

The aim with this is to be flexible with training and go from “I don’t have time to the gym therefore there’s no point in trying” to “I have options to suit my schedule.”

My challenge to you reader – if you’re struggling to find time to fit exercise into your busy schedule, have a look at your schedule and find 30 minutes during the week where you can do some exercise. I don’t care if it’s going for a 30 minute walk, doing a home workout or going to the gym – find when you have 30 minutes to move your body (and feel all those happy hormones that exercise gives you!)

Do this for a month – 1-3x 30 minute sessions per week – and see how much better you feel in your body, both physically & mentally.

I’d love to hear how you get on!
DM me either on
LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachedbyclaudia/)
or Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/claudia.theatrefit/)

Also by Claudia:

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